Preparing for a Change in Leadership:
A Transition Guide for Outgoing and Incoming Department Chairs
2017
If you are an outgoing department chair and would like to create the conditions for a smooth transition, or, if you’re an incoming chair that would like to explore the context into which you will begin your term, this brief guide is for you. Use the questions below to transfer knowledge, understand the environment particular to your department and college, identify business-in-progress, and prioritize areas of immediate focus.
I. discussion questions for outgoing and incoming chairs
Position Guidelines
Review the Department Chair Position Guidelines (July 2017):
· How closely does it match your experience?
· Which responsibilities are most time consuming?
· Are/Could some responsibilities be delegated?
· How has the dean set expectations regarding these or other duties?
· Where are/will be the steepest learning curves?
Department Culture and Context
· What has it been like to lead/manage your department?
· What do the dean, faculty, staff, and students expect from the Chair?
· To what extent is there a culture of delegation/sharing the administrative load?
· What are the most clear and supported common goals?
· Where is conflict most apt to arise?
· What are the undocumented practices and unwritten rules?
· What’s the best approach to working successfully with the dean?
Work in Progress and Immediate Priorities
· What work in progress will need to be transitioned?
· Which areas will require immediate attention during the transition?
· At the college and university level, in what upcoming activities will your department be asked to participate?
· Where does important documentation regarding department policies and procedures and work in progress reside?
Campus Resources
· Who are the experts upon whom you rely?
· Which campus web pages are useful?
· Who would be worthwhile getting to know over coffee?
Outgoing Chair’s wisdom
· How might the outgoing chair be involved in advising/coaching, continuing work in progress, supporting the incoming chair’s transition?
· What 2-3 changes in how the department’s work is accomplished would have the biggest positive impact?
· What have been the greatest lessons learned?
II. administrative checklist (to be discussed with department administrative staff)
· Access to which systems will need to be transitioned from the outgoing to the incoming chair? (See Information Systems for Department Chairs.)
· Access to which facilities (labs, equipment storage, offices) will need to be transitioned?
· Will office, phone, computer, or equipment moves need to be arranged?
· If there is a gap between the outgoing and the incoming chairs’ contracts, who will be responsible for decision-making, approvals, requests, etc. that occur during the gap?
III. Faculty and staff Interviews (for Incoming Chair with Individual Faculty and staff)
Incoming Chairs might find it valuable to meet with individual faculty and staff to gain insight into multiple perspectives, interests, and concerns. Make it informal and confidential. What are the themes that emerge? What actions or approaches do the themes suggest?
The results of interviews will provide valuable information to identify any shifts in department values and culture that might be indicated. Incoming Chairs can then begin to think about how to implement incremental changes that would lead to department discussion and decision-making that move the department forward.
Talk about individual interests (not about performance):
· What is of most professional interest to you at this time regarding your teaching, scholarly activity, service or other professional duties?
· What’s facilitating your work? Hindering it?
· How can I help?
Talk about the department as a whole:
· What do you value most about the department?
· From your stand point, what are the department’s biggest recent accomplishments? What should we keep doing because it’s working for us?
· What might we consider changing because it’s not working for us?